The Storm have a lot of holes to fill. These cannot be fixed by the number 2 draft pick alone. Free agency will play a huge role in forming the 2012 team. These are a few steps that i think will be important this offseason and my suggestions on which free agents the Storm must sign.

Step 1 (Early february): Re-sign Sue Bird and Tanisha WrightStep 2: Fill in the holes at the small forward and PF/C positionvia trade or free agency. Atleast 1 of these 2 needs to be the number 1 or 2 scorer on this team!Step 3: Try to get Vesela to return so that we have a backup SFStep 4: get a backup PG for Sue

Free agents/players that i like to see on the team for upcoming season:- A healthy Shameka Christon to be our starting small forward- Ann Wauters to be our starting center and number 1 or 2 option/scorer on the team.- Like to see Jana Vesela return and come off the bench to be our backup smallforward.- Sharnee Zoll, a good backup pointguard for Birdy. She has experience leading a team so bigger chance that Agler will actually play her and let her run the 2nd unit!- Re-sign Katie Smith- Re-sign Ewelina Kobryn

Signings that are probably not going to happen -Steal RFA Langhorne from the Mystics-Steal RFA Carson from the Liberty-Get RFA Leilani Mitchell as a backup PG

My 2012 team would look like this (if Griner/EDD/Diggins are not in the draft):

PG: Bird/ZollSG: TWright/Smith (or Johnson depends on how she and Stricklen do and if we can get Vesela to return)SF: Christon/Vesela/StricklenPF: Little/KobrynC: Wauters/Arob (LJ when she comes back)

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aussie36

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Australia

Re: Storm 2012 and free agencyReply #2 - Jan 13th, 2012 at 3:20pm

My 2012 team would look like this (if Griner/EDD/Diggins are not in the draft):

PG: Bird/ZollSG: TWright/Smith (or Johnson depends on how she and Stricklen do and if we can get Vesela to return)SF: Christon/Vesela/StricklenPF: Little/KobrynC: Wauters/Arob (LJ when she comes back) [/quote]

LJ counts as a roster player, last we heard WNBA wasn't allowing Seattle to replace LJ with a player for Olympics as it was Seattle's choice to sign her/let her have time off, so Storm only have 10 roster spots to fill.

My 2012 team would look like this (if Griner/EDD/Diggins are not in the draft):

PG: Bird/ZollSG: TWright/Smith (or Johnson depends on how she and Stricklen do and if we can get Vesela to return)SF: Christon/Vesela/StricklenPF: Little/KobrynC: Wauters/Arob (LJ when she comes back)

LJ counts as a roster player, last we heard WNBA wasn't allowing Seattle to replace LJ with a player for Olympics as it was Seattle's choice to sign her/let her have time off, so Storm only have 10 roster spots to fill. [/quote]

Ow i forgot then it probably means another year without a backup for Sue (T Wright not counting)

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the latter because she never can be counted on to come over and play.

Thats why i said clearly upcoming season Any other arguments on why you dont want Wauters She is about as close as perfect for replacement for LJ for this season. They even have a pretty similar game. Wauters has a good faceup game loves to shoot the outside jumper and can shoot the 3 but also has a very good postup game downlow! And she can put up around 13-15 pts a game which is what we need to replace Swins numbers

Ow i forgot then it probably means another year without a backup for Sue (T Wright not counting)

Yeah it does suck. Especially trying to fill all the holes without Swin and Le'Coe too. Oh well at least 2013 is the bumper draft I am sure we will be competitive regardless.

It's why Penny Taylor hasn't committed to Opals apparently. She feels she is letting Phoenix down and they didn't offer her the time off like the Storm did for LJ. Not that it's easy to replace Taylor but Phx said she could go if they could not have her on their active roster but WNBA said no. Just like Chicago had to let Christon go last year cos they knew she prob wouldn't play at all last season and they weren't prepared to have her on the roster and be down to 10 players already. Washington were allowed to do that sign a player for 2 weeks (for max of 2 consecutive times) because Beard was ruled out for the season but they didn't want to waive her, they still paid her contract and they had a second player on the long term injury list.

Be interesting what Taylor does... If she goes then at least Phx are down to 10 players and won't have one of their key pieces too. (Tulsa won't have Cambage and LA not O'Hea but they aren't as big losses).

Ow i forgot then it probably means another year without a backup for Sue (T Wright not counting)

Yeah it does suck. Especially trying to fill all the holes without Swin and Le'Coe too. Oh well at least 2013 is the bumper draft I am sure we will be competitive regardless.

It's why Penny Taylor hasn't committed to Opals apparently. She feels she is letting Phoenix down and they didn't offer her the time off like the Storm did for LJ. Not that it's easy to replace Taylor but Phx said she could go if they could not have her on their active roster but WNBA said no. Just like Chicago had to let Christon go last year cos they knew she prob wouldn't play at all last season and they weren't prepared to have her on the roster and be down to 10 players already. Washington were allowed to do that sign a player for 2 weeks (for max of 2 consecutive times) because Beard was ruled out for the season but they didn't want to waive her, they still paid her contract and they had a second player on the long term injury list.

Be interesting what Taylor does... If she goes then at least Phx are down to 10 players and won't have one of their key pieces too. (Tulsa won't have Cambage and LA not O'Hea but they aren't as big losses).

So Penny's salary will count against the cap? Maybe thats part of the reason why they got rid of Tameka Johnson(and her big salary) for nothing (yes Riley is the same as nothing) to create capspace.

Wouldn't it be nice if Phoenix did not keep PT and she became a free agent after the olympics? We could sign her with our newfound room in our cap space, and PT might enjoy playing alongside LJ in the WNBA.One can dream, right?

ARob will start in place of LJ during the first half. She has done well whenever she is allowed to play extended minutes.Scoring would be by committee. Bird, Smith, Little, and T are capable of scoring 20 points on any given day. We focus on defense and search for the hot hand during games. We don't have to dominate early in the season. We just have to hold the fort until LJ comes back.

Wouldn't it be nice if Phoenix did not keep PT and she became a free agent after the olympics? We could sign her with our newfound room in our cap space, and PT might enjoy playing alongside LJ in the WNBA.One can dream, right?

Cheers,

Pretty sure she has already signed a multi yr extension, hence feeling like she is letting Phx down if she takes half season off.

ARob will start in place of LJ during the first half. She has done well whenever she is allowed to play extended minutes.Scoring would be by committee. Bird, Smith, Little, and T are capable of scoring 20 points on any given day. We focus on defense and search for the hot hand during games. We don't have to dominate early in the season. We just have to hold the fort until LJ comes back.

Cheers,

Oke but if one of those 4 scores 20 and the other 3 score each in double-figures lets say 10 (so 4 players in double figures which is pretty good balance). And you get about 12 pts from the bench. Thats still only 62 points total last season we were almost the lowest scoring team with 70-74 pts

Even with fantastic defense your not going to win a lot of games that way.

Agler is planning a trip overseas at the end of this month with Karen Bryant, the team's president and CEO. The first stop is Israel and there are also plans to visit players in Spain. But that's not just to see C Lauren Jackson or G Tanisha Wright, an unrestricted free agent who plans to re-sign with the Storm. (UPDATE) Players like C Ann Wauters and former Storm F Jana Vesela also play in Spain and their status is questionable

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It's just the beginning of talks between teams and agents, though. Contracts can't be signed until Feb. 1, Bryant stating there could be news early for Seattle. As you've probably heard, the Storm has a star to replace in F Swin Cash and key reserve in F Le'coe Willingham. The bench also needs strengthening in order to challenge deep teams like Minnesota and Atlanta.

"We fully expect that this will be a very active offseason for Brian," Bryant said. "And right now the opportunities and options are endless. Obviously this is Day 1 of what is going to be an eventful offseason for us in terms of player personnel. We're only just beginning."